(RALEIGH) -- North Carolina prison officials are close to opening a new prison hospital and mental health unit in Raleigh. The $155 million facility is on Central Prison campus in Raleigh.

Ginny Lancaster, Chief Deputy Secretary of the Department of Correction said the facility is needed because the prison population is getting older. "The aging the aging brings chronic disease.  Our level of chronic disease management is huge, so what the older facilities were designed for, we have long out grown," said Lancaster.

This new, five-story building can house 336 patients which will also help meet the demands of a growing prison population. "When these facilities were built, the prison population was about 10,000. Now, we have about 40,000 offenders and we admit 25,000 new inmates a year." The current hospital building at Central Prison was built in the 1960's.

Dr. Paula Smith said the new facility is long overdue. "We cannot provide substandard care. You cannot provide appropriate care without appropriate facilities, without appropriate equipment," said Smith.

Lancaster said the new facility is expected to save taxpayers about $40 million a year.  It will open in November.